SC orders sale of Aamby Valley as Subrata Roy fails to pay Rs 300 cr instalment

The Supreme Court on Monday ordered the auction of Aamby Valley, Sahara’s marquee project in Maharashtra, as the company failed to pay Rs 300 crore as the first installment of Rs 5,000 crore it was ordered to pay for allegedly duping the investors.

In an earlier hearing on the dispute between Sahara chief Subrata Roy and Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) over the non-payment of money to millions of investors, the Supreme Court had warned Sahara that if the company failed to deposit Rs 5,000 crore, the court would auction the Aamby Valley property.

The apex court ordered the appointment of an official liquidator to initiate the auction process. The property which is valued at Rs 34,000 crore is spread across 10,600-acre land near Pune.

In the earlier hearing, the SC bench took a stern note of the consistent non-payment and observed that “If money does not come into the accounts, then your Aamby Valley project will be sold.”

The special bench of Justices Dipak Misra, Ranjan Gogoi, and AK Sikri was not satisfied with the recourse Sahara group was resorting to for paying the duped investors. The court had remarked that the property was substantial enough for the recovery of the amount.

Roy was sent to Tihar jail on March 4, 2014 as he did not comply with the SC orders in relation to his tussle with the market regulator. Sebi had alleged that Roy did not comply with the SC directive to return the investors’ money.

Sahara in the past made several failed attempts to raise the bail money by selling his high prized possessions such as The Plaza hotel in New York and the Grosvenor House in London. Sahara maintains that it has already paid more than 80% of the dues to investors, but Sebi differs and has submitted that more than Rs 10,000 crore remains unpaid.